How Tos, Tutorials, Tips and Tricks

Dell

Fedora 11 does have support for Broadcom wireless drivers, but it didn’t really work out on a friend’s laptop. Finally we got it working and I thought I’ll just note the steps down. Below are the three easy steps you need to take to make it work properly.

Step 1

Install needed packages

[root@fedora ~]$ yum install broadcom-wl wl-kmod

[root@fedora ~]$ yum install broadcom-wl wl-kmod

Step 2

Once the packages are installed successfully, reboot your laptop.

Step 3

Use the following command

[root@fedora ~]$ system-config-network

[root@fedora ~]$ system-config-network

And add a new wireless device wlan0 or whatever you want by filling the required fields properly. If you want the device to be managed by NetworkManager, you can do so while editing the device you just added.

Dell started selling their new Dell Inspiron Mini 9 series yesterday as informed by slashdot article. Lately I have been looking for a mobile solution which should be easy to carry and have enough computing power to meet my expectation. I liked the SSD concept replacing the mechanical hard disk. I just moved over to Dell website and tried configuring one for myself (go here to configure them yourself). I am an open source addict but I am not an Ubuntu fan but still going with ubuntu sounds better than going with M$ stuff. So, started configuring the Ubuntu machine and pushed everything (main memory, hard disk and other components) to maximum. A few minutes later I realized that the Ubuntu model’s price is more than the equivalent config with M$ Windows.

Below is a table comparing Windows XP and Ubuntu model of Dell Inspiron Mini 9 series. The differences are highlighted in red color.

Ubuntu 8.04

Microsoft Windows XP Home Premium

$494

$479

My Components

Obsidian Black

Obsidian Black

Mini OS powered by Ubuntu 8.04

Genuine Windows® XP Home Edition

1GB DDR2 at 533MHz

1GB DDR2 at 533MHz

16GB Solid State Drive

16GB Solid State Drive

Built-in Bluetooth 2.1 capability

Built-in Bluetooth 2.1 capability

Integrated 1.3M Pixel Webcam

Integrated 1.3M Pixel Webcam

My Service

1Yr Ltd Warranty and Mail-In Service

1Yr Ltd Warranty and Mail-In Service

Also Includes

Intel® Atom Processor® N270 (1.6GHz/533Mhz FSB/512K cache)

Intel® Atom Processor® N270 (1.6GHz/533Mhz FSB/512K cache)

Glossy 8.9 inch LED display (1024X600)

Glossy 8.9 inch LED display (1024X600)

Intel Graphics Media Accelerator (GMA) 950

Intel Graphics Media Accelerator (GMA) 950

Wireless 802.11g Mini Card

Wireless 802.11g Mini Card

32WHr Battery (4 cell)

32WHr Battery (4 cell)

Base LCD Assembly

Base LCD Assembly

Base LCD Assembly in Black

Base LCD Assembly in Black

No Installation

No Installation

Adobe® Acrobat® Reader 8.1, English

McAfee SecurityCenter 30-day Trial

Microsoft Works 9 DOES NOT INCLUDE MS WORD

No ISP requested

According to the above table Ubuntu alone is costlier than Genuine Microsoft Windows XP Home Premium + Adobe Acrobat Reader 8.1 English + McAfee SecurityCenter 30-day Trial + Microsoft Works 9 (MS Word Excluded). I am not sure if Dell is trying to promote Microsoft by selling Windows XP model at a lower price or they are generating more revenues for Ubuntu by selling it at a higher price or they are just fooling the customers. Below are the picture proofs if Dell changes the prices.